What is High Content Screening?What is High Content
Last Updated on Saturday, 18 February 2012 21:51
The search for new therapies for human diseases is increasingly driven by the need for a deeper understanding of their underlying biology. Key to this understanding is greater knowledge about targets, pathways, and biological systems. Studying the living cell offers a tractable approach to gaining this knowledge rapidly and affordably.
Over the last decade, imaging Cytometry, also known as High Content Screening (HCS) or High Content Analysis (HCA), a proven technology combining automated fluorescence microscopy with multi-parameter quantitative image analysis, has emerged as a powerful method for the large scale study of cell biology (cellomics). High content provides researchers with the tools to rapidly gain insightful knowledge about targets or compounds of interest in the context of the cell, allowing for better decision making and increased productivity of the discovery process. High Content is now having an impact across life science research from oncology, neurobiology through to in vitro toxicology and has accelerated the use of new technologies such as RNAi and stem cell models.
High content - a definition
High-content automates the extraction of multicolor fluorescence information derived from fluorescence-based reagents incorporated into and/or on the surface of cells. Fields of cells are automatically identified and the intracellular fluorescence signals are localized and quantified using an optical system coupled with sophisticated image algorithms that analyze spatial as well as temporal dynamics, so you can
- Measure spatial distribution of targets in cells
- Measure individual cell and organelle morphology
- Combine multiple measurements per cell
- Identify, isolate, and measure subpopulations of cells
High-content/image cytometry is a convergence of a number of other detection modes and assay formats. Learn more in our Definitions page
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What can High-content do for me and my research?
High-content is designed to overcome the limitations of current cell based assay formats and addresses the need for a more direct way to quantify cellular phenotypes.Capturing adherent cell morphologies with multispectral imaging in microplates, enables the screening of a new set of highly relevant biological targets and functions. Together with automated cellular analysis, image cytometry provides a powerful new tool for cellomics researchers.
- Make individual cell, sub-cellular and multi-cellular measurements
- Use intensity and location of probes to measure area, size, shape and texture
- Make multiple measurements per object, over time if desired
- Measure sub-populations and reject undesired objects automatically
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Answers for Your Most Demanding Cell Biology Challenges
Thermo Scientific offers a complete portfolio of platforms for higher-content cell biology to transform your workflow by providing answers to your key biological questions, such as:
- Is this target relevant in this disease?
- Which lead series should I choose?
- What is the off-target effect of my compounds?
- Will this compound series have a risk of toxicity in humans?
- How can I understand the effects of RNAi knockdown in cells?
- How could I improve the throughput of this tedious manual assay?
- How can I work out the function of this gene?
- How does this stem cell differentiate?
